Medical treatments generally target specific cellular functions of patients to cure or mitigate the effects of diseases. However, the strategy underlying treatment of an infectious disease treatment is to target the infecting pathogen. Inevitably, and not surprisingly, the targeting of pathogens has led to the emergence and spread of pathogens having mutational resistance to countermeasures. In recent years, such resistance has sparked interest in agents that target host functions that are exploited by pathogens. It has been shown that multiple pathogens or toxins that affect hosts by different mechanisms may use the same host pathways.
Numerous pathogens enter mammalian eukaryotic cells by exploiting cellular endocytosis. Among these pathogens are many with high rates of mortality or morbidity, including anthrax, smallpox, Ebola and Marburg's Disease. Some pathogens may exploit only the endocytic pathway, while others may exploit endocytosis in addition to other pathways. Still other pathogens are known to exploit endocytosis, but the specific type of pathway or pathways have not yet been identified.
Furthermore, some pathogens reproduce rapidly in mammals and also produce toxins that damage the host cells. Examples of such pathogens include Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium botulinum, C. difficile, and Corynebacterium diphtheriae (diphtheria). The treatment of such pathogens thus requires inhibition of cellular damage from the toxins as well as removal of the bacteria, which may be difficult in a subject having a compromised immune system.